EADSAn EADS A330 tanker on the tarmac at the Paris Air Show in 2007. EADS is scheduled to deliver the tanker to the Royal Australian Air Force later this year, and said it will offer a similar aircraft in the U.S. Air Force tanker contest against Boeing Co.

The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. will announce today that it is jumping back into competition for the U.S. Air Force tanker contract, challenging rival Boeing Co. for the potential $40 billion deal and rekindling hopes in Mobile for a 1,500-worker factory to assemble the planes.

EADS, the parent company of Airbus, scheduled a 1 p.m. (CST) news conference in Washington, D.C., where it was expected to make the announcement, according to industry sources.

EADS was part of a team led by Northrop Grumman Corp. that won the 179-plane order from the Air Force in 2008. But the deal unraveled under protest from Chicago-based Boeing, and the Air Force reopened the contract for bidding in February.

Northrop quit the competition March 8, saying the Air Force's selection criteria were tilted toward Boeing's smaller KC-767 jet. EADS held negotiations with several American defense contractors about joining its bid, but is expected to say today that it will pursue the deal as a prime contractor.

(See AL.com for updates today, and Wednesday's Press-Register for a full report.)